Hi
Im an Irish citizen who came to live and work here for a year in March 2012 on a working holiday 417 visa. I came to Perth and it is where i met my Australian girlfriend. In March 2013 I had to return to Ireland as my visa expired but myself and my girlfriend decided we would go the partner visa route so we could be reunited and continue our future together. We contacted a lawyer and we lodged an application in October 2013. Ultimately we got refused , we have a joint bank account, we submitted every document they asked for but because we did not share a household , they refused. Our lawyer thinks their reasoning is flawed as one of their reasons was we did not talk about any marrage or future plans, but in my girlfriends signed statutory declaration, she says she hopes we can be married one day.
In the meantime, i arrived to Australia 3 weeks ago on a tourist visa,which was always the plan, so we could be together while the partner visa was being processed. i booked flights and got my visa in November, before we got refused in January a few weeks ago.
Sincwe we lodged the initial application offshore, if we appeal the decision to the MRT, i would have no working rights, as the appeal could take quite a long time.
our lawyer says we should lodge a 2nd application as we have now more evidence of our relationship (my gf came to Ireland in November, as wel as a trip in August , I am currently here now living with her, we have got our relatonship declared in W.A, we have a utility bill in joint name, i have been added to her car insurance)
My question is, if we lodge a 2nd application onshore, even though i am here on a tourist visa (600), would i therefore go on a bridging visa with work entitlements whilst the application is being processed?
Apologies for the long winded post but i am not too happy with my lawyer, he is slow getting back to me, he is giving me misinformation and correcting himself later and i have already paid him $4,000 for what was a failed application

Yes, your lawyer seems pretty shady, IMO. Is he a registered migration agent, or just a lawyer? A registered migration agent is what you should always use. Anyway...

It does sound like you are in a much better spot to apply now, and yes if you applied onshore now you'd get a bridging visa with full work rights. (Of course, presuming your 600 doesn't have a "no further stay" condition on it, in which case you'd not be able to apply onshore).

In order to qualify for a de facto visa, you have to prove you're living as husband and wife. For most people this means living together for a year (with evidence to prove it) or registering your relationship. Seems like you didn't meet either of those conditions last time. Since you've registered and you've now lived together for some time, you should be okay.

Yes, your lawyer seems pretty shady, IMO. Is he a registered migration agent, or just a lawyer? A registered migration agent is what you should always use. Anyway...

It does sound like you are in a much better spot to apply now, and yes if you applied onshore now you'd get a bridging visa with full work rights. (Of course, presuming your 600 doesn't have a "no further stay" condition on it, in which case you'd not be able to apply onshore).

In order to qualify for a de facto visa, you have to prove you're living as husband and wife. For most people this means living together for a year (with evidence to prove it) or registering your relationship. Seems like you didn't meet either of those conditions last time. Since you've registered and you've now lived together for some time, you should be okay.

Hi CollegeGirl,
Yes he's a registered migration lawyer, i had a call with him today and feel much more confident. we are looking to lodge a 2nd application within 2 weeks
He says as i am on a 600 tourist visa with no working rights, when we apply onshore, i will not be allowed to work as he says a bridging visa will just be an extension of my current visa
are you saying , that i would have work rights?
he says that he can apply for work rights based on financial hardship if i show my limited income. of course for a fee on his behalf for processing it

Once again, your lawyer is giving you incorrect and outdated advice. It USED to be the case that work rights on bridging visas followed the original visa - but for partner visa applicants the law changed over a year ago (maybe even two years now). You will absolutely have full working rights. If this guy is a MARA-registered migration agent, I'd be reporting him. He's giving you quite a bit of wrong advice!

Just looked it up - this change was made by Immigration on 24 November 2012. Here's just one of a bunch of websites that talks about it. Any of the registered migration agents on this forum will tell you the same thing I just did, by the way.

Once again, your lawyer is giving you incorrect and outdated advice. It USED to be the case that work rights on bridging visas followed the original visa - but for partner visa applicants the law changed over a year ago (maybe even two years now). You will absolutely have full working rights. If this guy is a MARA-registered migration agent, I'd be reporting him. He's giving you quite a bit of wrong advice!

thanks for this info collegegirl
do you have any links that would support this, i am currently on hold to the DIBP as i want to clarify this. if i have links i could confront my agent

Oh, and don't let your lawyer try to tell you you have to apply for it specially, either. The BVA for partner visa applicants automatically comes with full work rights. No application necessary. You get it automatically when you apply for the partner visa.

Oh, and don't let your lawyer try to tell you you have to apply for it specially, either. The BVA for partner visa applicants automatically comes with full work rights. No application necessary. You get it automatically when you apply for the partner visa.

i cant believe that ive been fed so uch misinformation. he is mara registered and everything. my friend used him and recommended him.

on that link you posted it states:
''The work rights will only come into effect when the BVA activates, after the expiry of the last visa held.''

i am on a 6 month tourist subclass 600 visa, activated on 15th January 2014. Does this mean i have to wait until 15th June before i can work?

my lawyer has just replied to my email where i posted that link
they state :

''This information is correct, however for as long as your Tourist visa is valid then the ‘No Work’ condition will still apply – unless you decide to then cancel your Tourist visa and go on the associated Bridging Visa A that has work rights.''

am i to take it, that cancelling my tourist visa is relatively simple and that i can go on a bridging visa with full work rights
im fuming here

No, he's correct that he can't work as long as your tourist visa is active and that the BVA won't activate until your current stay on your tourist visa ends. You were asking about work rights on the Bridging Visa, so that's what I was addressing. What are the conditions on your 600, i.e., what is the maximum stay? If the maximum stay on your tourist visa is three months the BVA would kick in at the end of that three months. But if it's six months, then yes, you'll have to wait six months to work.

Your application is likely to take 13-18 months, though (current processing times) so you will have working rights for the remainder of your processing time.

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